ESPN

QUARTERBACK: Tom Brady fell short of his fourth game-winning touchdown drive in a Super Bowl. He overcame a ragged start to find his groove. He set a Super Bowl record with 16 straight completions, including 15 straight on two touchdown passes. His first touchdown pass, a 4-yarder to Danny Woodhead, showed his patience to wait for the running back to break free of the linebacker. Brady's second one, a 12-yarder, was quicker recognition to find tight end Aaron Hernandez against the middle linebacker. Brady did get hit on his interception (which turned out to be a long punt) and seemed to hurt his already banged-up left shoulder. He started off the scoring but not the way he intended. His intentional grounding penalty on the Patriots' first play led to a safety, a strange mistake for a quarterback known for such great awareness. Grade: B-plus.

OFFENSE: The Patriots' receivers let Brady down in the fourth quarter with drops from Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Hernandez. The passing game was limited with tight end Rob Gronkowski less than full strength with a high-ankle sprain. He didn't get a catch until three minutes left in the first half. Hernandez picked up the slack with a 12-yard touchdown grab in the third quarter. The offensive line held up quite well against a Giants pass rush that recorded five sacks of Brady in the last Super Bowl matchup. Welker was a hot target in the passing game, although he couldn't pull down a key reception late in the fourth quarter. Grade: C.

DEFENSE: The Patriots' much-maligned defense came up big in the biggest game of the season. Playing both safeties deep to defend against the deep pass, the Patriots made it tough for Eli Manning and forced him to throw into tight windows. The New England run defense got pushed around early (70 yards rushing allowed in the first half), but fared better in the second half. The Patriots played more physical after they were sparked by Patrick Chung's hit on Hakeem Nicks along the sideline. The Patriots then allowed Ahmad Bradshaw to score a 6-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left, so they could get the ball back into the hands of Brady. Grade: B-minus.

COACHING: Bill Belichick lost his second straight Super Bowl. The Patriots had a great game plan defensively and were running an efficient offense. But it was questionable to throw on second-and-11 in the fourth quarter — which resulted in an incompletion to Welker and stopped the clock with four minutes left in the game. Then, the challenge on the Mario Manningham catch on the Giants' final drive cost the Patriots a timeout. Belichick prides himself on precision and discipline, which is why having 12 men on the field for defense was so surprising. That penalty negated a recovered fumble for the New England defense and led to the Giants' first touchdown (a Victor Cruz 2-yard catch in the first quarter). Grade: B.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 29-yard field goal. The kickoff coverage team allowed a 34-yard return early in the third quarter. The Patriots' return game was virtually non-existent. Punter Zoltan Mesko was outplayed by Steve Weatherford, averaging 38 yards per punt. Grade: C.

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker shouldered much of the blame for New England's first-half offensive woes in Saturday's 27-24 win over the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium.

"I put the first half on myself; I was pretty bad," said Welker. "I wanted to let [his teammates] know, that was poor on my part. Second half, [we] wanted to come out and play the way we needed to play to win the game. That’s what we were able to do; Able to make some plays. Everybody chipped in. That’s what it’s all about. That’s how you win games. It takes a full effort from the whole team, nobody really holding us all back. I felt like in the first half, I really did that."

Welker caught 12 passes for 138 yards and, in the process, broke Randy Moss's franchise record for receiving yards in a single season.

Welker likes how this team has overcome early adversity in recent weeks.

"There are always things that are going to go wrong with a football team and things are not going to work out the way you want it to all the time," he said. "The main thing is just playing a full 60 minutes and never giving in and understanding that one drive and one score could get things going, break the ice."

Despite trailing 17-0 coming out of halftime, that's exactly what happened for New England.

"[We got] good defensive stops and [all of a sudden] it was a one-score game," said Welker. "That’s what we were able to do and, in the end, it was enough."

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker endured his quietest outing of the season Monday night, catching just two passes for 22 yards in New England's 34-3 triumph over the Chiefs at Gillette Stadium.

Welker didn't have a catch until late in the fourth quarter and, for a fleeting moment, it seemed like his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch -- a streak off 88 games dating all the way back to Dec. 24, 2005, when he was blanked by the Tennessee Titans while playing for the Dolphins -- might be in jeopardy.

But neither Welker nor the New England coaching staff emerged concerned about the lack of a typical Welker-like production for the league's leader in receptions (74) and receiving yards (1,028).

“I think a lot of it was just us," Welker said after Monday's game. "They did some different types of things. They had a good game plan for us and did a good job. We just had to roll with it and have some other people step up and we did. We were able to come away with the win.”

On Tuesday, Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien stressed that Welker played a good game, the ball simply didn't go in his direction often.

"For Wes, [it was] quiet as it relates to catches," said O'Brien. "Obviously, he only had two catches, but he does so many other things that help our offense. I don’t know if you guys watched the tape, but if you go back and watch it, he was blocking extremely well and helping us in the running game. We rushed for 157 yards. Some of that was because of him and how well he blocked. Obviously, the Chiefs had a good game plan and they did a good job for most of the night. We were able to make some plays as the game wore on and it ended up being pretty good."

Echoed coach Bill Belichick: "We grade players in the game based on them doing their assignment right and performing their responsibility on the play properly –- that’s what they’re graded on. Whatever a player is supposed to do -- run a route, block somebody, whatever it happens to be -- if they do what they’re doing properly, that’s really all they can do. The opportunities that they get, then you can evaluate those. If those opportunities go to somebody else or the running play, the production is going to show up with the running back, not the guys who are blocking. That’s the way it is. Wes, he does a good job for us; has done a good job all year in terms of his route running, his assignments, his blocking -- pretty much whatever we ask him to do, we can count on him to do it and perform it well. He’s done that consistently; he did it last night."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Patriots receiver Wes Welker’s status on the injury report is notable this week. After appearing on the injury report because of his neck (Week 9) and rib (Week 10), Welker’s ailment this week is his knee.

Any discussion of Welker and his knee goes back to the 2009 season finale when he tore his ACL, though it's unclear which knee this "new" injury is to. Welker followed team policy when asked about it today.

“It’s something we really don’t talk about around here,” he told reporters. “I’m just getting ready for the game [Monday].”

Welker’s availability doesn’t seem to be in question, even though he’s been limited in practice. Even without a full practice load, he envisions being able to be effective Monday night.

“I think I understand what the coaches want, what Tom wants,” he said. “I understand when it comes to Sunday we have to take care of our business, be there, and play well.”

Welker has done that each week – he leads the NFL with 72 receptions and 1,006 receiving yards – although the hits are adding up.

“I feel all right,” he said. “I think everybody goes through different things through the season. You just have to manage them and get ready the best you can.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker has been on the receiving end of some rough hits the past couple weeks. Steelers safety Troy Polamalu left Welker with an ailing neck after a (non-flagged) facemask tackle in Pittburgh, while Giants linebacker Michael Boley popped him hard in Sunday's loss at Gillette Stadium.

Welker has been limited in practice this week due to a rib injury, but said Friday he welcomes the physical play.

"It’s a physical game," said Welker. "That's the way it’s supposed to be played. You just gotta be ready for it, make sure that you’re being physical out there, playing the way you need to."

Welker leads the NFL in receptions (66) and receiving yards (960). Matched up with Jets corner Darrelle Revis for much of the teams' Week 5 meeting, Welker still produced five catches for 124 yards. He expects another challenge against Revis and the Jets on Sunday.

"[Revis is a] great player -- he’s fast, he’s quick, he’s strong, he does a lot of good things," said Welker. "He's a smart football player. You have to come up with creative ways to try to attack him, keep him on his toes. You have to really try to make him work out there and do creative things to get open."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick had just finished gushing about Wes Welker's play this season during a conference call to the New York media Wednesday when he was asked how he might devise a game game plan to stop the team's top receiver.

Quipped the coach: "That is why we traded for him from Miami, because we couldn’t cover him when he was down there."

That's not entirely true. In six career regular-season meetings against the Patriots, Welker combined for just 14 catches for 157 yards. This season, it's not unfathomable for Welker to put up those type of numbers in a single game. But Welker certainly made his contributions in the kicking game while with the Dolphins, particularly on returns as he took back 21 kicks against the Patriots for 521 yards (24.8 yards per return) and 18 punts for 213 yards (11.8 yards per return).

A closer look at Welker's regular-season game log against the Patriots:


Welker sat out Wednesday's practice with a neck injury, but did talk to New York reporters on his own conference call earlier in the day. Asked why he believes he's hard to cover, Welker pointed to hard work and understanding what opponents are trying to do against him (suggesting film work and advanced study is crucial for his success).

When he was asked how difficult he thought he was to cover, Welker noted, "I think when I am on top of my game, I feel like I am pretty tough to cover. I feel like when I am in that flow, it is pretty tough."

Of course, all Belichick wanted to talk about was Welker's contributions as a blocker.

"Wes has done a good job and has been returning some punts for us. He is a smart player that has been productive," said Belichick. "He has really done a good job of blocking as well as receiving. He had a couple big blocks for us in the Jets game when we were running out the clock. He had a big block on the sweep. He has done a good job all the way around and has been well prepared. He has caught the ball well, done a good job of getting open and run after the catch."

The Patriots traded second- (center Samson Satele at 60th overall) and seventh-round picks (defensive end Abraham Wright at 238th overall) in the 2007 draft to Miami in exchange for Welker.

The Patriots have a bye week and their "phenomenon" wide receiver Wes Welker needs a new contract. Time to act, Mr. Kraft?

Back in the 2006 season, the New England Patriots were off to a 4-1 start when they reached their off weekend. They used it as an opportunity to take care of contract-related business, extending center Dan Koppen's pact five years.

Some view the bye week as a checkpoint when it comes to contracts, the one chance during the season to step back from the daily grind and potentially address the long-term future of a core member of the team. If the club takes a similar course this year, and it makes sense to think they'd be exploring it, the top candidates are receiver Wes Welker, linebacker Jerod Mayo and offensive lineman Sebastian Vollmer.

Of the three, Welker's status has drawn the most attention because he's in the final year of his deal and producing big results, while Mayo and Vollmer have contracts that don't expire until the end of 2012.

Hop HERE to read the full story.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker is looking forward to five consecutive days off during the bye week -- joking that stretch of inactivity is almost unheard of in these parts -- but stressed that it's not quite as glamorous as one might imagine.

"It’s not like Spring Break in college or anything like that," said Welker. "Everybody's still gotta go work out, do some of those things. But you're not out there running routes and doing all those things that you do on a daily basis. You're just making sure you’re getting a lot of rest, a lot of sleep."

Welker said he's headed home to Oklahoma City to see some family and friends for a few days before returning back to Foxborough to get ready for the second half of the season.

"I think you kinda put [football] out of you mind for a few days," he said. "There's so much every single day -- football, football, football -- so it’s kinda nice to get a few days to just kinda relax, spend time with family and friends. Just get away from it for a few days."

Welker enters the break with 51 receptions for 785 yards, both tops in the NFL. Coming off the offense's worst performance of the season -- and a game he was limited to a season-low 45 yards receiving on six catches -- Welker stressed there's plenty of work to be done, even with a 5-1 record.

"It’s nice to be in the position we are in, but there's still a long way to go," said Welker. "By no means have we won the division, or even close to it. We’re still a long ways out from where we need to be."

Welker said he'll keep an eye on the action around the NFL this weekend, but quipped: "If I have something to do, it's not like I'm Tivo-ing it of anything like that." He noted it was nice to get a veteran like running back Kevin Faulk back on the field Tuesday as three players previously on the physically-unable-to-perform list (defensive linemen Brandon Deaderick and Ron Brace the others) returned to practice ("[Faulk has] been so clutch throughout his career, adding him back, his knowledge of the game -- he's been so big for us, so it's always great to have Kevin out there," said Welker).

When it was noted that quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick moved into a tie as the winningest coach/QB combo during the Super Bowl era with Sunday's win over Dallas (matching the 116 career victories by Miami's Dan Marino and Don Shula), Welker offered his take on the reasons behind their combined success.

"Just the commitment that both of them have," said Welker. "Coach Belichick, I don’t think there’s been one time when I've parked my car here and his car hasn’t been in his spot. He's constantly in here trying to help us and make us better. Tom, well, he’s Tom -- he's always trying to find a way to do something better, as far as eating more flax seed, or whatever it is. He’s always trying to find a way to improve out there on the field."

Much of the hype leading up this week's Patriots-Jets matchup is sure to center on how New York will defend wide receiver Wes Welker. Through four games, Welker leads the league in receptions (40), receiving yards (616), and yards from scrimmage (635).

The obvious answer is Darrelle Revis, the three-time Pro Bowler whose regarded as maybe the league's elite shutdown corner. The stats back it up. According to analytical stats site Pro Football Focus, Revis has only been thrown at 11 times this season (only five times since Week 1). Only three of those passes have been completed for 38 yards. Maybe the most eye-popping stat is that no pass in Revis' direction has been completed over the past three weeks.

Should the Jets move Revis into the slot to defend Welker in this Week 5 meeting? A look at the Welker vs. Revis matchups based on PFF numbers from meetings over the last three seasons:

Jan. 16, 2011 -- Jets 28, Patriots 21 -- 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards, 6 YAC
Dec. 6, 2010 -- Patriots 45, Jets 3 -- 1 target, 1 reception, 11 yards, 13 YAC
Sept. 19, 2010 -- Jets 28, Patriots 14 -- 1 target, 0 receptions
Nov. 22, 2009 -- Patriots 31, Jets 14 -- 2 targets, 1 reception, 43 yards, 17 YAC
Sept. 20, 2009 -- Jets 16, Patriots 9 -- 0 targets (Welker DNP)
Nov. 13, 2008 -- Jets 34, Patriots 31 (OT) -- 1 target, 1 reception, 14 yards, 0 YAC
Sept. 14, 2008 -- Patriots 19, Jets 10 -- 2 targets, 2 receptions, 35 yard,s 38 YAC
Totals: 3 seasons, 6 games -- 8 targets, 6 receptions, 113 yards, 74 YAC

The numbers suggest the matchup has been a bit of a wash. While the Patriots have had success when Welker is targeted with Revis on him, it's still only six receptions over six games, and that's not exactly a number that will scare away the Jets. The matchup has yielded no touchdowns and no interceptions. Ultimately, the matchup would make for great theater, especially in this matchup of rivals. It will be interesting to see how the Jets decide to defend Welker and if the Patriots get creative to prevent New York from keying on him with one defender. It should be stressed that the two have rarely been matched because the Jets have kept Revis on outside receivers, but you have to wonder if that will change this time around.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Much like a baseball player who breaks in a new mitt, Patriots receiver Wes Welker spent about 10 minutes in front of his locker today with new footwear he plans to wear in Sunday's game against the Raiders.

As part of the NFL's Breast Cancer Awareness push, Welker is one of several players who will wear pink footwear.

He gave the go-ahead to snap a photo of his footwear (see accompanying photo).

Welker talked about how breaking in new footwear is one of his least favorite parts of the job. He changes his footwear every game or so.

Along the lines of footing, Welker was asked about the field conditions in Oakland, where Bill Belichick said earlier this week that the Patriots were informed the infield dirt would be re-sodded.

"From my understanding, they re-sodded the whole field, not just the infield," Welker said. "It should be pretty consistent."

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker set a franchise single-game record with 217 receiving yards in Sunday's 34-31 loss to the Bills, breaking Terry Glenn's mark of 214, which was set in 1999.

To Welker, the result overshadowed the accomplishment.

"Pretty much it detracts from everything," he said. "You know, what should be a great fun day of breaking records and doing all those things, it's totally the opposite."

Welker was remarkable, finishing with 16 catches and two touchdowns as quarterback Tom Brady targeted him a whopping 20 times. In fact, Patriots receivers caught only three other passes (Chad Ochocinco with two, Julian Edelman the other).

And it was the four passes that the Bills caught from Tom Brady that really made the difference.

"I think the turnovers really killed us in the end," Welker said. "We were able to do some good things out there and moved the ball pretty well and things like that. We get in key positions, we can't turn the ball over and make some of those mistakes, and pick 6s and different things like that. We didn't play very good complementary football with each other. The Bills came out there and played hard and kept fighting, and they were definitely a tougher team than us today."

On the turnovers, Welker said, "I think it's multiple things. You know, I'm sure Tom [Brady] will tell you, bad throws and different things like that; ultimately we got to be on the same page and we're all accountable for it and making sure that we're in the right spots making the plays we need to.

"I think any time you turn the ball over, especially in the situations we were in, it's never good. It's never good for your psyche, it's never good for the team and never good for scoring points. It's not just Tom. It's everybody getting on the same page and understanding that we're in this together."

(Read full post)

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- With his 16th catch in Sunday's game, Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker set a new franchise single-game record with 217 receiving yards.

Welker topped the previous record of 214 yards (on 13 catches) set by Terry Glenn on Oct. 3, 1999 in Cleveland.

Welker already topped his own career highs of 15 catches and 192 yards -- both set against the New York Jets on Nov. 22, 2009.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker became only the 12th player in NFL history to produce a 99-yard play from scrimmage when he caught a dart from quarterback Tom Brady late in the fourth quarter of New England's 38-24 triumph over the Miami Dolphins Monday night at Sun Life Stadium.

So how did it happen? Leave it to Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to break down the game's most exciting play so succinctly:

“They came after us, Tom checked it, we picked it up, hit him in stride, broke a tackle.”

The thing is, it truly was that simple. But what made it more special was how it came about. The Patriots were up by two touchdowns when Miami drove to the New England ½-yard line on a 10-play, fourth-quarter drive. On fourth-and-goal, Chad Henne couldn't connect with Brian Hartline, turning the ball back over to the Patriots with 5:57 to go. A Patriots offense that had moved the ball all night continued to impose its will, striking on just one play to slam the door on the game.

(Read full post)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker expressed excitement upon hearing news the team acquired wide receiver Chad Ochocinco and hopes he brings many of the same elements that made him noteworthy both on and off the field in Cincinnati:

Welker on the Ochocinco trade: “I was excited. Having a guy like that to make plays for us out there is big. We’re excited to have him and we’re hopeful to see some of the things he was able to do in the past when he was with Cincinnati and bring it over here to New England."

On Ochocinco's reputation both on and off the field: “I always thought it was funny and all the stuff was pretty comical to me. I never saw it being detrimental to his team or anything like that. We see him being a good teammate and playing a good role on our team and making plays for us like he has over the past 10 years or whatever... I welcome it. I always like to have fun with it. We’ll keep it at a reasonable level and have fun. We’ll enjoy each other and play some good football.”

More Welker on Ochocinco: "We’re excited to have him. Hopefully we’ll come together and make some great plays out there... He works hard and goes out and gives his best effort. He’s an early riser and likes to get after it and that’s what I like. He’s a great player and he’s shown that over the years and hopefully he’ll make some big plays for us and keep us moving forward in the right direction.”

CBS Sports broadcaster Phil Simms, who appeared on WEEI's "Dale & Holley Show" on Tuesday morning, said he and the others in the broadcast booth Sunday learned of Wes Welker’s benching just a minute or two before they went on the air.

He said they learned the news when someone overheard talk on the field that Welker would be benched for the game’s first offensive possession.

“It was kind of by accident how we found out,” said Simms. “Somebody heard somebody talking on the field and we then looked into it, and it was verified, so that’s why we said it, that they were going to hold him out."

Simms, who acknowledged that he’s known coach Bill Belichick since 1979 when they both joined the New York Giants, added that he wasn’t surprised by the move.

“I thought when Wes Welker did his tongue-in-cheek thing about Rex Ryan this past week, I thought, well, OK, he must have gotten the OK to go out and kind of attack the Jets a little bit, but apparently he did not have that OK so he paid the price.”

When asked if he thought Belichick could have handled the discipline in another way, Simms said, “Well, you know, it’s whatever program he has built up there, so if that’s how he deals with it and if he thinks it’s appropriate, then I have no problem with it.

“It didn’t surprise me," he added. "Once I heard , I went, whoa, OK, he did not like the interview and this is how he’s going to discipline Wes Welker. You know, it sends a message.”